Friday, June 29, 2007

Schools are about more than sorting out winners and losers (and being very careful to minimize the browning of the former category). Schools are a social institution, established by the state for the good of society, not just of individuals. And if society chooses to try to move beyond racism, then the schools should reflect that by trying to educate classes of people that were previously denied access because of race. If society wants to institutionalize racism—which I think it exactly what a lot of wingnuts want—then schools will reflect that by doing everything they can to advance white students over black ones. In the past, it was more blatant school segregation. Now it’s about crippling the schools’ ability to reach out to underrepresented minorities in an attempt to diversify their student bodies, with an eye towards producing a more progressive society over time.

Exactly how does diversifying a student body help minorities? Not to mention that I'm totally uninterested in a "more progressive society."

If Marcotte thinks that busing in a bunch of white kids into the Detroit school system (for example) is the answer to the edjumacation quagmire in urban settings, then she's a tad more naive that I thought. Detroit is a BLACK town, run by BLACK politicians, and BLACK businessmen. The Governor is liberal. Exactly how are the wingnuts (who have no power in Detroit) keeping the blacks down through the institutionalized racism of schools? I mean, if that's what happening, than us wingnuts are certainly a ton more powerful than I thought.

The crises in education is a tad more complicated than merely mixing up the color scheme. To use the excuse of "racism" is to ignore the true problems, and to insure that the situation will never be improved.

As a "wingnut" - I'm not interested in keeping the status quo that exists in too many cities. Crime. a poor pool of workers, a lower tax base, etc, are undesirable. I'd really like someone to explain how I benefit by keeping segments of society "down?"

The answer, always, is that whites like to stay on top. On top of what? A huge garbage pile of debt, welfare, crime, and failure? It's just idiotic.